Assembly Health Committee

Legislation aimed at protecting cosmetic surgery patients was proposed Thursday by the Medical Board of California and a Los Angeles lawmaker. Prompted in part by the 1997 post-liposuction death of Judy Fernandez of La Habra, the measure would tighten restrictions on doctors who perform plastic surgery in their offices, often without adequate training or precautions, critics say.

An Anaheim assemblyman introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at helping ease the county's nursing shortage, estimated at 900 vacancies. "We need this program," said Jon Gilwee, spokesman for Healthcare Assn. of Southern California, a hospital trade group in Orange County. "On any given day, hospitals with a 15% to 18% nurse vacancy rate is not unusual."

Junk-food junkies beware: State Sen. Martha Escutia is on a mission to rid California public schools of sodas, candy bars and other sweet snacks. The lawmaker informed her colleagues last week that she is determined to push for legislation that would significantly restrict the types of foods and drinks sold in public schools--a move that sent the snack and soda industry into a frenzy.

While some researchers focus on treating midlife hearing loss, others are concentrating on early detection. As many as six of every 1,000 infants are born with significant hearing loss, according to the California Department of Health Services. Often, the loss goes undetected until the child is 2, when a delay in normal speech often becomes noticeable. By this time, the child is at risk for serious language delays and learning problems.

Democratic Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan of Fresno, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee and a fiery defender of medical care for the poor, announced Monday that he is quitting the Legislature to take a job with the University of California.

The former head of a state loan guarantee program testified Tuesday that his boss manipulated the voting majority on a key advisory committee in order to push through a controversial $167-million loan guarantee in December, 1990. The recipient of the guarantee was Triad Healthcare of Encino, which has defaulted and filed for federal bankruptcy protection. Because the loan was guaranteed by the state, taxpayers are potentially liable for Triad's debt. Richard A.

Motivated by what he termed the "Triad hospital loan disaster," Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles) has introduced legislation that would bar state employees and appointees from representing clients before their agencies. Margolin, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, introduced the bill following a committee hearing last week on the process by which Triad Healthcare Inc.

Charging that "children are dying and people are being injured," a state lawmaker said Tuesday that he will introduce a bill next year that would make it a felony to illegally sell pharmaceuticals in California. Assembly Health Committee Chairman Martin Gallegos (D-Baldwin Park) said the sale in back-room clinics of drugs made for Mexico is a critical issue that also needs to be addressed with the Mexican government.